The Big Push
In The Big Push, Ma Teng attacked Liu Biao, along the Chang Jiang in Jing Province, because Liu Biao killed Han Sui, Ma Teng's Half Brother in the earlier Battle of Jing Province. Gan Ning Wounded Han Xuan starting a rivalry between the two once the former allies then joins The Pirate Wars after the battle. The Battle of Xiakou was a battle fought between the warlords Huang Zu and Liu Biao in 203 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. Sun Quan's forces attempted to conquer Jiangxia Commandery (present-day Yunmeng County, Hubei), which was defended by the New Confederate general Huang Zu. The battle was inconclusive as Liu Biao's army were unable to capture Jiangxia even when Huang Zu retreated to the Bronx OutLawz Later. The battle is not to be confused with the Battle of Jiangxia that took place five years later, which concluded with victory for Huang Zu over Liu Biao. Battle of Xiakou Background In 200, Sun Quan inherited the territories in Jiangdong conquered by his older brother Sun Ce between 194 and 199. He was confirmed by the Han Dynasty government's de facto leader Cao Cao as a legitimate lord of the Jiangdong lands, and was appointed by the Han government as Grand Administrator of Kuaiji.[[|1]] Two years later, Sun Quan suppressed a rebellion by Li Shu and merged Li's 30,000 troops into his own army. By 203, Sun Quan had achieved a stable control over his territories in Jiangdong, so he set into motion a strategy proposed by his advisor Lu Su. According to the plan, Sun Quan would take Jing Province (covering present-day Hubei and Hunan), governed by Liu Biao, and take control of all the lands in southern China, then use the Yangtze River as a natural barrier to defend against invading forces from the north. The first obstacle on Sun Quan's path to dominating Jing Province was Jiangxia Commandery, which served as the eastern gateway to Jing Province along the Yangtze. In addition, Sun Quan had a personal stake in the campaign on Jiangxia, because Huang Zu, Liu Biao's appointed Administrator of Jiangxia, was responsible for causing the death of his father, Sun Jian, at the Battle of Xiangyang 12 years ago.[[|2]] Battle of XiakouThe battle Sun Quan appointed Ling Cao as leader of the vanguard fleet and ordered him to mobilize first, while he kept the larger vessels with himself for a slower advance. On the other hand, Huang Zu led his army from Jiangxia to Xiakou and set up a defense line in anticipation of the enemy. En route to Jiangxia, Ling Cao's fleet encountered Huang Zu's navy at the Xiakou riverbank, with Huang's large vessels spread out far and wide.[[|3]] Even though Ling Cao was at a numerical disadvantage then, he considered it his duty as a vanguard leader to eliminate any enemy standing in his lord's path. Undaunted, Ling Cao charged ahead of his men and dashed uninterruptedly into the heart of Huang Zu's fleet. Since Huang Zu did not expect such a small unit to engage his larger force, he was unprepared for Ling Cao's attack. Before Huang Zu could react to the situation, Ling Cao had cleared a path in front of him. Fearing for his life, Huang Zu abandoned his flagship and boarded a small boat, leaving his navy impaired to function.[[|4]] When Huang Zu's soldiers saw their commander fleeing towards their home base, they started to desert their posts and scrambled to retreat, resulting in a total collapse of the naval formation. Ling Cao gave pursuit to Huang Zu and boarded a light vessel in the midst of chaos and fighting. However, when he was close to claiming Huang Zu's head, he was hit by an arrow fired by Huang's subordinate Gan Ning and died;[[|5]] thus Huang was able to retreat to Jiangxia safely. Huang Zu remained in Jiangxia thereafter and did not respond to the challenges of Sun Quan's main army. Unable to breach Jiangxia's walls, Sun Quan soon withdrew his troops back to Jiangdong to deal with the Shanyue tribes who constantly raided his lands.[[|6]] Battle of Xiakou Aftermath Even though Gan Ning saved Huang Zu's life at a critical moment, Huang was unappreciative of his effort because he despised Gan for his background (Gan Ning used to be a pirate).[[|7]] Gan Ning then heeded the advice of his comrade, Su Fei, to defect to Sun Quan's side, bringing along with him confidential intelligence on Huang Zu's forces. Sun Quan received Gan Ning warmly and followed Gan's suggestion to launch a full assault on Huang Zu again three years later in 208, starting the subsequent Battle of Jiangxia. The Alderaan Civil War was a conflict on the planet Alderaan during the Cold War. PreludeEdit After Alderaan was invaded by the Sith Empire during the Great Galactic War, which was eventually repelled and obliterated by the Galactic Republic, the leaders, for the first time in history, became a voice for aggressive military action in the Senate. After the Treaty of Coruscant was signed, Senator Gaul Panteer, the crown prince of Alderaan, marched out of the Senate chamber in protest. Alderaan seceded from the Republic, and became an independent system. The decision of the crown prince was met with mixed reaction by the Alderaanian people; though many were supportive, others were outraged. Despite the controversy, the Alderaan security forces managed to keep order until the crown prince was assassinated; just days later, the Queen died heirless. The Parliament of Alderaan was deadlocked on which of the noble houses should inherit the throne. Civil war erupted when House Thul, backed by the Sith Empire, decided to settle the matter by force. The conflictEdit The civil war ceased to be internal when a forgotten house returned with Imperial backing and the Republic started funneling support to the House Organa. Even though neither superpower officially had any troops on the ground, Alderaan became a site of conflict between them in the post-war galaxy. Borious Uigloo protested House Grantathon Thul's return, stating that they're just puppets for an Imperial invasion, and attempted to rally the other houses to expelling Thul once more. But as the houses were too fractured to realize it, Uigloo decided to take action by usurping the throne from the Panteers. This only caused all the houses (excluding House Rist) to turn against him as well. It was later discovered that Houses Uigloo and Reistance were behind Paul Ganteer's death. The Battle of Chi Bi (赤壁之战) is a defining battle near the end of the Han Dynasty. On royal orders, Cao Cao led an expedition to the south and conquered a majority of Jing Province. He had Liu Bei on the run at Chang Ban, yet Liu Bei escaped from his foe to the east and arranged a formal alliance with Sun Quan. After some debate, Sun Quan accepted the decision to fight back with Liu Bei. Led by the talented strategist, Zhou Yu, the combined navies clashed with Cao Cao's imposing fleet. Two famous events for the battle include Huang Gai's ruse to Cao Cao and the damaging fire attack on the invading fleet. Romance of the Three Kingdoms particularly adds it own drama for the conflict, including an one-sided rivalry between Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang, Cao Cao vying for the Two Qiaos, and the act of calling forth the southeastern winds for the fire attack's success. The allied army scored victory against Cao Cao, who retreated back north with his forces. Again, Romance of the Three Kingdoms imparts a fictional chase for his head as he escaped from Chi Bi. His weakened grasp on Jing Province sparked Sun Quan's plans for expanding north at Nanjun. When his forces were repulsed by Cao Ren and other capable officers under Cao Cao, Liu Bei took this chance to claim four sections of Jing Province for himself. With each of the three powers continuing to build their forces, the foundations for the Three Kingdoms period began to take shape. Role in GamesEdit Dynasty WarriorsEdit Every iteration of the battle so far in the Dynasty Warriors series stresses the importance of the fire attack over most tactics for the battle. Even the first title presents Chi Bi as a background for Wu characters, one version including a flaming fleet of ships at nightfall. During the majority of the series, Sun Quan is present as the allied leader (Sun Jian acts as the leader in Dynasty Warriors 4 or if the player plays as Sun Jian.), but Zhou Yu is the one in charge of the allied forces for the campaign. As the key strategist for the battle, Zhou Yu often has cinematics dedicated to him signaling the fire attack in earlier titles. In Dynasty Warriors 5, the battle of Chi Bi is sometimes followed or replaced by Cao Cao's escape instead. While no game has a scene in which Zhuge Liang persuades Zhou Yu into forming an alliance, the same title hints that the battle is fought over the Two Qiaos during Xiao Qiao's Musou Mode, in which Zhou Yu expresses his hatred for Cao Cao's greed before the battle. The sixth title added ships that could be moved by hitting a gong to transport units across the river, but this feature was removed in the Special version. For most incarnations of the allied forces version of the battle, Zhuge Liang asks the allied forces to bide him time while he prays for the southern winds to blow. Dynasty Warriors 2 encourages players to have 100 KOs to have the prayers take effect, but every following title has this occur at a set time. While Zhuge Liang prepares the winds, players are often asked to assist Huang Gai with his own plot for the boats. He directs these explosive filled boats to set sail towards Cao Cao's fleet. Both individuals are imperative for the fire attack to succeed, testing the player's patience and endurance against the overwhelming numbers. Dynasty Warriors 4 and each title after it adds Pang Tong as a valuable yet optional element for the fire attack. The strategist infiltrates Cao Cao's ranks to chain the enemy boats together. He destroys the bridge connecting the two armies together in the fifth title and acts as Zhuge Liang's backup for the winds in the sixth title. The strategy for Wei's forces in each title is purely directed to stopping any element of the fire attack. Players can often achieve this by targeting either Zhou Yu, Huang Gai, and/or Zhuge Liang in most titles. Zhuge Liang will usually have extra protection at the altar -depending on the game- so these generals may need to be neutralized before heading towards the strategist himself. Once the allied forces fail to carry out their plans, the remaining army will charge in desperation to foil Cao Cao. Dynasty Warriors 6 creates a twist to their version of the battle; even if the player defeats all of the key players for the fire attack, Huang Gai will still bombard Cao Cao's ships. However, the fires will be considerably weaker and may be extinguished shortly within the span of the battle. Liu Bei's forces in the field varies with each title, but they usually play second fiddle to Wu's strategies. If the ally fire attack succeeds in Dynasty Warriors 3, a small regiment of his officers will reinforce Wu's charge. They can take part in the battle itself in the fourth title. Liu Bei's forces also appear during Cao Cao's escape from Chi Bi in both the Xtreme Legends expansion and Dynasty Warriors 5. Zhuge Liang frequently flees from combat after performing his task on the field, but he and his wife stay to fight during her story in Dynasty Warriors 6: Special. Extra scenarios surrounding the time frame of the battle have been made throughout the series. Dynasty Warriors 3: Xtreme Legends included a fictional confrontation with Dong Zhuo against his rogue adoptive son, Lu Bu, as well as a challenge from the Dynasty Tactics Lu Bu. Zhou Yu and Huang Gai's Legend Modes in Dynasty Warriors 4: Xtreme Legends surrounds events involving the battle with influences from the novel. Zhou Yu's story has him chasing his hated rival as he escapes from Chi Bi, wanting to prevent the latter's return to Liu Bei. Huang Gai's version involves the deceptive plot to infiltrate Cao Cao's fleet, pretending to be discontent with Zhou Yu's beatings moments prior. He needs to stealthily escape from his own comrades to avoid raising alarm, making the scheme seem like a natural defection. Lu Bu and his independent army interrupt the battle entirely during his story in Dynasty Warriors 6. Since he sides with neither army for the conflict, he can choose to interrupt the fire attack or allow it to take place to make it easier for his forces. If he targets and defeats the leaders for each army, Zhou Yu and Dian Wei will become enraged with Lu Bu. The Wu and Wei armies will then temporarily ally with one another to bring an end to Lu Bu. Zhuge Dan's Rebellion was a revolt by Zhuge Dan against the Sima family. Doubting their rule would insure the future of Wei, he opposed them with other discontent factions. His upraising ultimately proved unsuccessful due to internal conflicts. Role in GamesEdit In Dynasty Warriors 7, Zhuge Dan rebels against Wei because he feared that due to his past restlessness and hostilities to Sima Zhao, Sima's request for him to visit Cao Mao at the capitol was an assassination attempt. Zhuge Dan holes himself up in Shouchun Castle, where he is reinforced by troops of Wu. This gives the Allied Forces higher morale, and the Wu head for the Jin main camp. Zhu Yi appears in command of these reinforcements. If players defeat him, he will temporarily retreat. Soon, new reinforcements will arrive under Zhu Yi again. If he is defeated, he will still withdraw. The next time, Zhong Hui brings scarcely believable news that the Wu commander Sun Chen had Zhu Yi executed. Soon, Sima Zhao orders Zhong Hui to spread the story to other Wu officers, causing dissent and leading to massive surrendering in Zhuge Dan's army and the Wu lines. Soon, Ding Feng moves in to attack the Wei main camp. After defeating him, the only obstacle left is Sun Chen. Sima Zhao defeats him which ends the first phase. In the second phase, Zhong Hui advises Sima Zhao to convince the executed Wen Qin's sons Wen Yang and Wen Hu to defect. The latter two defect, and tell the guards of the castle to open the gates of Shou Chun. The Wei forces rush into the castle. Sima Zhao begins a duel with Zhuge Dan. Despite a fire attack, Zhuge Dan winds up losing the duel and getting killed. Category:Story Arcs Category:Wreckages